About INgene blog : First ever Indian Youth trend Insights blog

About INgene : First ever Indian Youth trend Insights blog:This blog explores the detailed characteristics of Young-India and explains the finer & crucial differences they have with their global peers. The blog also establishes the theory of “adopted differentiation” (Copyright Kaustav SG,2007) and how the Indian & Inglodian youth are using this as a tool to differentiate themselves from the “aam aadmi” (mass population of India) to establish their new found identity.

The term youth refers to persons who are no longer children and not yet adults. Used colloquially, however the term generally refers to a broader, more ambiguous field of reference- from the physically adolescent to those in their late twenties.Though superficially the youth all over the world exhibits similar [degree of] attitude, [traits of] interests & [deliverance of] opinion but a detailed observation reveals the finer differential characteristics which are crucial and often ignored while targeting this group as a valued consumer base. India is one of the youngest countries in the world with 60% of its population less then 24 years of age and is charted as the most prospective destination for the retail investment in the A. T. Kearney’s Global Retail Opportunity Report, 2007. With the first ever non-socialistic generation’s thriving aspiration & new found money power combined with steadily growing GDP, bubbling IT industry and increasing list of confident young entrepreneurs, the scenario appears very lucrative for the global and local retailers to target the “Youngisthan” (young-India). But, the secret remains in the understanding of the finer AIOs of this generation. The Indian youth segment roughly estimates close to 250million (between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five) and can be broadly divided (socio-psychologically) into three categories: the Bharatiyas, the Indians & the Inglodians (copyright Kaustav SG 2008). The Bharatiyas estimating 67% of the young population lives in the rural (R1, R2 to R4 SEC) areas with least influence of globalization, high traditional values. They are least economically privileged, most family oriented Bollywood influenced generation. The Indians constitute 31.5% (A, B,C, D & E SEC) and have moderate global influence. They are well aware of the global trends but rooted to the Indian family values, customs and ethos. The Inglodians are basically the creamy layers (A1,A SEC) and marginal (1.5% or roughly three million) in number though they are strongly growing (70% growth rate). Inglodians are affluent and consume most of the trendy & luxury items. They are internet savvy & the believers of global-village (a place where there is no difference between east & west, developing & developed countries etc.), highly influenced by the western music, food, fashion & culture yet Indian at heart.

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Sunday, July 15, 2018

No,
I’m not about to define a daughter. That’s not where I’m going. My objective is
to drive your focus to the choice of interrogative pronoun that I just used.
“What” rather than “Who”. And most of our Indian people would go on to
answering that question, never realizing that the “what” just reduced a female
from a person to an object. But why does this objectification of women run so
deep in our culture? Right now, I’m not talking about the objectification of
women in cinema and advertisements. That is a separate topic of debate. But
right now, I’m talking about the objectification of women that is deep rooted
in our religious texts. Majority of our population may not have read these
texts themselves, and may not be as strictly religious, and may not follow all
day-to-day religious practices, but still follow some customs under the
guidance of the religious pastor on some special occasions like mundan
(customary shaving of a baby’s head), sanskaar (funeral rites) and different
kinds of havan (this one could form a separate list). Not going into the
essential meanings and reasons of these rites, let’s move onto the one that
binds two people, and subsequently their families, into a LIFE-LONG BOND –
Marriage.

Very
recently, I attended my cousin’s marriage ceremony – an overnight affair of
mantra and phere that none of the witnesses can understand, and who are just
sitting there to witness the couple performing some actions on the pandit’s
command. And that’s when my contempt for a custom was sparked anew as I heard
the mention of “kanya daan”. For anyone who does not know, it’s direct
translation means “girl donation”. Done by a girl’s father or the next elder
male member of the family (along with his wife), it is regarded as the donation
of the highest order – the one that would earn the donor the most punya (credit
of doing good deeds). The religious texts of Hinduism – which I haven’t read
myself, nor anybody in my extended family as far as I know, but whose teachings
we hear all around us, translated by those who claim to have read them –
declare a female as a property, an object of ownership. How? Because you can
only donate what you own.

And
talk about the vachan (vows) of marriage exchanged by the bride and groom,
which are probably the only part of the whole ceremony that we can understand
as the pandit translates them into the commonly spoken language for the benefit
of the couple (because you can’t really make a vow without knowing the terms of
that vow which were mentioned by a different person in a language that you
don’t understand, right?), these vows sound like the terms of a
50-Shades-of-Grey style of BDSM contract for LIFETIME! (which still wouldn’t be
as sick if the terms were enunciated by the couple themselves and mutually
agreed upon after negotiation). BDSM is actually sane and gives the highest
regard to consent. But these vows? They roughly translate into telling the
woman that she will no longer be her own person. Seriously!! One of the vows
that the bride is supposed to make states that she is not supposed to go to a
park or garden or lakeside without the “permission” of her husband or his
family. And the rest of the vows are also along the same lines. They bind a
woman to “taking permission”, which is different from “informing your folks of
your whereabouts”. These vows are basically telling a woman that she is not
supposed to make her own decisions. Just consider having to depend on your
husband’s or in-laws’ permission to go to the mall. How stupid does that sound?
Or controlling. This leads me to realize how the Hindu marriage system is
actually a Power-exchange dynamic that all the people sign up for at the time
of their marriage without even realizing it. And we don’t see our modern wives
taking on the submissive role in the relationship, nor the husbands being the
dominant ones. The modern youth believes in equal status and responsibilities
of both man and woman within a relationship which leads me to believe that most
of them just go with the flow of the mantras and agree to such vows just to
complete the formalities of the marriage ceremony. “How many of your marriage
vows did you actually believe in and still practice?” I ask you, my readers,
who have been married. If we aren’t exactly practicing what we vowed to do,
then where’s our integrity? What’s the value of our words?

Coming
back to what the religion preaches, despite all that is preached about
respecting women as mothers, we can all agree that it regards the females as
second-class citizens – always a male’s “amaanat” (possession, property),
passed on from one male (the father) to another (the husband) as a donation,
and always subject to the male’s permission for her life’s smallest of
decisions. But as the modern youth who no longer believe in such patriarchal
norms, isn’t it our duty to bid them away even from the customs and
formalities? Why not make our own vows that we mutually consent to abide by as
a couple, or revamp the old customary vows according to our modern beliefs,
rather than nodding to whatever the pastor says when we don’t really agree with
them? Why lose the integrity of our vows?

As
for those who might be worried about losing out on the punya of the most sacred
donation, no need to fret. Let me introduce you to the highest order of
donation in the modern world – Organ Donation. Yes, the highest, because your
one pledge can save 8 different lives and improve another 50. And this is a
true form of donation, NOT controlling a woman’s life in the name of some rusty
norms.A daughter is not your property.
So, go to one of the organ donation websites and pledge to donate your organs.
And while you are at it, also pledge to do away with sick customs like
girl-donation aka kanya-daan.

Author
Lipika Aggrawal is a millennial Indian who has expressed her views on modern
Indian society and gender disparity

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Are
you a girl? Great! Born in India? Even greater! Well, are you a sexual being?
Uh, that doesn’t make a good combination. Duh, this is India, girl. Here, you
are not supposed to have an ounce of sexuality, not before marriage. And well if you
do, guess what new status you attain in the minds of your conservative-minded
parents?

Congratulations!
You are ready to be tied in the bonds of marriage with a guy of their choosing.

Well, most of
the females in our country do not even discover their sexuality (at least till
the time they are faced with the man who is going to be their prospective sex
partner for life), to explore it is further off the gird. And I doubt what
becomes of it after marriage is anything more than fulfilling their duties to
their pati parmeshwar (husband raised to the status of God).

If you are one of the luckier ones who discovered her sexuality during
her adolescence, be ready to be stupefied by the numerous “should-not”s
that the taboo-stricken Indian society has to offer you.

Dating
is unthinkable
Having a relationship is unacceptable

Having
a live-in relationship? Only happens in the lives of “celebrities”

Talking
about sex is bad

Talking
about periods to a guy or guys? What? Who does that!?

Going
out to party is wrong

Masturbation
is unnatural

Wanting to buy a sex toy? Well, from where do
such thoughts even come into your head!!!

Are you one of the lucky ones who have been
able to debate yourself into reaching the conclusion that masturbation is
natural, healthy and the safest form of sexual pleasure, and that indulging
yourself for sexual satisfaction is not a crime? Congrats! A pat on your back!

Now that you have grown up a bit and learnt to
accept your sexuality, explored all you could with your hands and your mind
reading erotica and watching porn, you want to go for something more than your
own fingers; a vibrating sensation that is more satisfying than your mobile
phone’s. But where do you go?

There are no physical shops, not that I am
aware of, where you could go browsing and purchasing adult toys. Google for
buying vibrators in India and you get several links to e-commerce sites, both
adult ones as well as the popular ones like Amazon, Snapdeal and Flipkart. But
your friendly neighborhood e-retailers cannot sell sex toys by the name of sex
toys, not in INDIA. So, all the vibrators that turn up in the list of available
products on Amazon, for instance, are named as “vibrator massagers” for your back,
neck, head, even face and eye-bags, yes! And mind you, these are the vibrators
that turn up even when you clearly mention that you are looking for “sexual
vibrators”. And you are left wondering if that lipstick-lookalike vibrator will
actually work the way you intend to use it.

Well, I know what you would be thinking by
now. Why don’t you go a proper adult-toy site, girl? Go to one of the websites
that explicitly call themselves a dealer in adult products, and you would
either find a little word to the left of the site’s URL that says that this
site is “Not Secure” (which is less occurring since I conducted a search few
months back), or you find secure sites that would list out highly expensive
products. Not planning to invest in a good expensive vibrator as your first
one, you look for the cheapest options, but even they seem out of your expected
budget. You wonder where is that below-a-thousand-bucks lipstick-lookalike
vibrator that you have heard some people mention to you before. Oh yes, there
it is under the mini vibrator section, and it costs… 900 bucks (discounted from
its original price of 1200 bucks). But wait…. Isn’t this the same “eye
massager” from Amazon that cost just 150 bucks (discounted from its original
price of 500 bucks)? Yep, it is! EXACTLY THE SAME!!! But with such a disparity
of cost! Not a disparity of just the discounted price, but that of the original
price as well! Do these people have any standards to set prices of sex toys?
What if they’re just fooling us with listing whatever price they desire, even
for the other products? How do I know the real price of a product? There’s no
trustworthy source! The trustworthy ones like Amazon and Flipkart don’t give
you so many options under their “modified” names of vibrators. Even the sexual
wellness site Durex lists only three products which cater to only males’ or
couples’ needs.

Revolving among the top-listed adult toy websites
that explicitly call themselves so, now we know that a good quality vibrator is
not going to be within your existing budget of a thousand bucks, not even the
double of it, unless you are satisfied with paying over a thousand bucks for a
lipstick-lookalike one. And we still do not know the authenticity of these
prices. But we’ve got no choice than to succumb to their demands.

Next step? Save Up! Now this can be a little
easy or difficult depending on your pocket money and your expenses. Oh wait,
who are we kidding? We all have our pocket money designed to fit our expenses.
I don’t know how much of your expenses you could cut out to save for a vibrator
in case you’re one of those who get a bigger amount of pocket money than most
20 years old kids (well, kids in the sense that we’re non-earning), but a
couple hundred saved every month from my meagre pocket money is not gonna help
me at least. Oh, and did I say it was a problem only for the non-earning
community? Nope. In my case, even my own earned paycheck (as a fresher) goes
into my bank account which… is taken care of by my mother. So, we’re back to
square one. You can’t withdraw your money just the way you can’t ask them money
for a vibrator.

Next option? Gotta figure out something else,
as expensive as your toy, for which you could ask them for money, but which you
wouldn’t have to show them as an evidence that you bought it. That’s tough to
do for something priced around 4-5 thousand rupees. But if you have an idea, do
share.

The next hurdle you face is that of the
delivery address. Although the retail sites say that the package would be
discreet with no mention of the product inside, you just can’t receive a
package without your family members finding out about it. You’re lucky if you
are living out alone in a PG or a rented flat, but if you’re someone like me -
living with your parents, one of whom is always home - it’s time to think of
all your friends and come up with at least one who could be your trusty and receive
the product for you and let you collect it without asking too many questions or
judging you for what’s inside. Sounds easy? Or hard? Well, if you ask me, I
can’t think of any of my friends who I could ask for such a favor. I’m too
conscious of revealing that I am sexual enough to want a vibrator.

Lily, in her early twenties, is a free-spirited modern Indian girl who believes that talking about sex, not only in terms of sexual health but also in terms of sexual pleasure, should not be taboo.To read about her own journey of embracing her sexuality, you can visit https://bdsmadventuresofavirgin.wordpress.com

Saturday, October 28, 2017

In my last post, I was insisting that the surveying agencies must consider pyschographic/ mind-set segments of youth rather than age group before they analyze any data to avoid stereotyping the youth. The below article published in buzzfeed emphasizes that 'progressive' millennial (a mind-set again) avoids discussion on caste where as my last post shows that caste is an important issue to consider!----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Progressive Millennial Indians, Let's Talk About Why We Never Talk About Caste

A
meme recently appeared on my Facebook timeline: a child plays as her mother
asks, “Are your dolls having a tea party?” The little girl answers, “No mom,
they’re protesting against patriarchy.”The
clever cartoon is accompanied by a proclamation: “omg, Priya this is so you”.There
are several likes and cheeky comments. Priya responds with faux-embarrassment –
“LOL stop it!” – though everyone knows there’s pride in being outed as a
feminist.Variations
of this exchange light up my timeline. I watch, smirk, and judge till I get
tagged myself. And then I respond like Priya, secretly thrilled to have been
validated as progressive.This
is the grammar of the metropolitan, well-off, English-speaking, millennial
internet. We curate online identities, knowing that social justice knowhow is
their hippest ingredient.We’re
young folks of privilege, negotiating professional and urban struggles one
weekend at a time. We live in India, but haven’t given up on “Bharat”.We’re
interested in the vagaries of our national discourses on gender, nationalism,
social conservatism, and more. We perceive injustices around us and raise hell
about them. We outrage quickly and happily.(For
evidence, see the popularity of millennial-darling comedians and YouTube stars
All India Bakchod, whose popularity is owed significantly to their satirising
of issues as varied as homophobia, victim-blaming in rape culture, and policy
debate around net neutrality.)In
some ways, this is an ideal scenario – caring about a better world has become
coveted cultural currency among people of privilege.But,
while we tweet ourselves hoarse about feminism and colourism and veganism and
ally-ism, there’s an omnipresent injustice which doesn’t enjoy the halo of our
Facebook moralising.The
big, confusing C-word.

Nagraj Manjule, fresh on the success of “Sairat”, was asked in an interview why he makes films only on caste. He responded
that it required a special talent to avoid the topic, and that he wasn’t a
particularly talented person. Witty, and also extraordinarily true.

At the Jaipur Literature Festival, that famed annual gathering of
progressives, Kajol declared that people had become over-sensitive these
days and that there was no intolerance in Bollywood, no dividing lines of caste
or creed.

Kajol’s statement is not in isolation. A study by The Hindu in 2015 showed that only 6 out
of 300 Bollywood films made in the previous two years had featured lower caste
protagonists.

Too often, “poor” is the blanket identity of characters who would most
likely hail from lower caste backgrounds (think Arjun and Ranveer’s irascible
Bikram and Bala from Gundey, or Nawazuddin’s delightful Shaikh from The
Lunchbox). Too often, Bollywood cinema has invisibilized caste under the
more simplified construct of class.

The word “jaat” has today almost disappeared from Bollywood vocabulary,
surfacing only occasional references to criminal tropes.

And television is no different. A quick glance at the top TRP-rated
shows on air currently reveals that none of them features a dalit protagonist.

Luckily, online entertainers have an opportunity to reject some
regressive conventions ingrained in Bollywood and TV. But nonetheless, when it
comes to caste, there’s a strange diffidence, a disquieting silence, even from
model millennial progressives All India Bakchod.

On their Hot Star news-comedy show On Air with AIB, the group
raised bold issues week after week, still managing to never touch the C-word.
They even did an entire segment on police brutality without mentioning caste.

Dalit activists have been arguing for years that there’s a casteist bias
in India’s judicial and law-enforcement apparatus, as evidenced by the NCRB report which found that almost 33% of inmates in
Indian prisons are SC/STs.

It must have taken special talent to avoid that.

Things
are no different on the cricket field. Until very recently, cricket was the
preserve of upper-caste city elites. Today, even the most die-hard Indian
cricket fans will only be able to name one dalit cricketer – Vinod Kambli.Few
know of Palwankar Baloo, the pre-independence left-arm spinner who was made to
use separate dining and lodging facilities on tours, and denied captaincy owing
to his caste.The
most commonly peddled dismissal of the cricket-and-caste conversation is that
sport is about technical excellence and that the best team should be selected,
irrespective of caste or religion. But sport is not beyond social justice.South
Africa has experimented with affirmative action to change the composition of
its teams and dismantle deep-rooted and invisible racist structures of
discrimination. Is their system working well? No. But at the very least, there
is acknowledgement of the problem, and experimentation with the intent of
solving it.Here,
even in the most educated circles, the moment I attempt to trace casteism into
anything beyond the designated cauldrons of caste oppression – honor killings,
khap panchayats, dalit rapes – I’m quickly dismissed as a fanatic.“Jootha
is not a caste thing, yaar, it’s scientifically proven to be more hygienic.”“But
do you even know what the SC and ST cut-off for IIM is?”“I
don’t care how much soap he uses. The bathroom guy can’t cook the food. Basic
hai.”There
is a suspicion towards reading casteism into the everyday structures that we’re
used to, even if they normalize caste-based oppression. In this orbit, caste
has almost become a “bad” word, considered the domain of the subaltern,
small-town political class who use it for their nefarious mobilisation. Lower
caste assertionism in form of political blocs, caste-alliances or even
Ambedkarite social politics is often dismissed with a shake of the head.In
other words: for those Indians who truly, genuinely believe that “there’s no
such thing as casteism in 2016,” trying to talk about dalit rights feels
divisive, not progressive or productive or urgent, as it is.What’s
perplexing is how this coexists in a completely non-ironic way with
#BlackLivesMatter, pro-Bernie Sanders memes, and the Tumblr-ised notion of
“checking your privilege”.

Perhaps the answer lies in the idiom of oppression. The thinking,
sensitive millennial is a product of privilege, a fact that is made amply clear
to him or her over and over again.

This upper caste urban sliver is the first Indian middle class to have
never known mass-scale unemployment. They’ve been told they’re spoilt, that
they have it easy, and that they should be thankful.

In the office, he witnesses gender disparities, so he becomes a
spokesperson for workplace feminism. On the streets, she sees men beating a dog
with sticks, so she’s now an advocate for animal rights. We see public spaces
as our own, so we stand up for the Kiss of Love event. We witness Western
victories for LGBTQ rights, and we outrage because things are just as bad (in
fact, much worse) for queer Indians.

We know very well how to spot an obvious injustice, point at it, and say
“no, in fact, this is not how things should be.”

To question caste however, is to question one’s own feudal privilege,
inherited from our own parents, family, teachers, and social peers.

There isn’t any far-removed injustice to point at and detachedly deem
problematic.

It’s your own world view, your own accidental advantage, the comfort of
your own home.

Casteism is not something “out there”, and hence it falls outside the
gaze.

You are the insider. Very often, you are the inadvertent oppressor. And
it is these deeply ingrained privileges which preclude us from questioning the
gravest injustices.

Why can’t the domestic help use the toilet in the house? Why can’t the
cook eat at the same table with you at lunch? They made the food and they will
clean the dishes, after all.

Why does he or she sit on the floor to watch TV, while two sofas stay
unoccupied?

On a more broad level, whose cuisine is marketed in restaurants and
chains in all manners of streets and lanes, and whose food is found illegal?
Whose gods and goddesses are being invoked and televised into serials, and
whose are ignored?

Whose customs are normalised as axiomatic, and whose social customs are
seen as primitive, even uncultured?

Delving into these discussions, an astute mind can quickly observe
entire races of enslaved Indians and suppressed cultures around us.

Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie once made a speech about the dangers of a single story, how it blinds us to the
possibilities of other alternate narrative imaginations.

In India, we have been peddling the same single story across films,
television, advertising, newspapers, cricket fields, restaurants, and living
rooms.

In
fact, this single story is so powerful and all-pervasive that a lot of urban
millennial professionals feel caste is something that no longer exists. It does
take a special talent to invisibilize the deaths of sewage workers
who die inside drains everyday.It
does take a special talent to tediously raise the “I know this one rich SC guy
who got a college seat basis quota” argument at every opportunity, even as
campus suicides by dalit students has been widely written about and
been the subject of documentary productions.There
are no dalits among the upper management of most corporations, the most
powerful editors and journalists, higher judiciary, chiefs of armed services,
and even the organisational elites of most political parties.If
every major social institution of nation-building is not representative of the
oppressed castes, then is it representative at all? And if “belonging” in a
democracy is determined by representation, then do dalits “belong” in India at
all?And
then there’s us: the well-read, well-meaning, and “woke”.If
we refuse to engage with and question our most insidious privileges, and our
complicity in perpetuating non-inclusive social structures, then are we really
the liberals that our memes and hashtags paint us as?

Monday, October 23, 2017

With my more than 2 decades of experience, I have understood that the “youth”
can not be boxed as one category of age group; though in every survey across
this nation the agencies generalize the youth and try to portray a single opinion/
statement! As I have mentioned way back
in 2009, the youth in India has 3 distinct psychographic segments ( mind-sets) with
unique mind-sets and AIO (Attitude, Interest and Opinion) of every segment. In
this survey the agencies covered 19 states (Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar,
Chhattisgarh,Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar
Pradesh and West Bengal) though they have not mentioned the cities/ villages
they have surveyed or the proportion of youth from villages, SEC II cities and
SEC I cities. It is interesting to note that the study divided youth on the
basis of their caste (Upper Caste
youth, Dalit and Adivasi youth) rather than
their mind-set! These further exhibits that the agencies are keen to stereotype
the youth over and over again on caste which further complicates the
socio-political situation of this nation.

Indian youth are certainly becoming more modern in their appearance and
consumption habits, “but their thoughts and views reflect a troubling
inclination towards intolerance and conservatism”, says a national survey of their attitudes, anxieties
and aspirations, released in New Delhi on Monday.

The survey, jointly conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing
Societies, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and Lokniti, covered 6,122 respondents in
the age group of 15-34.

It was carried out in April-May 2016 in 19 States. This is the second such survey. The first one was conducted in 2007. Among the respondents, 49% were in favour of death penalty, while only
33% felt that it should be abolished. An overwhelming 60%, cutting across religions, believed that films which
hurt religious sentiments should be banned, with only 23% opposed to such bans.

Beef eating

On the lately contentious subject of beef consumption, 46% disagreed
with the liberal sentiment that “consumption of beef is part of personal eating
habits and nobody should have an objection”, while only 36% agreed with it.

However, 40% of non-vegetarian Hindu youth and 90% of Left supporters
had no problem with beef consumption. At the same time, the survey also found
the majority of Indian youth (58%) to be non-vegetarian, while 30% and 9%
described themselves as pure vegetarians and “eggitarians” respectively.

The illiberal orientation was further underscored in the domain of interpersonal
relations, with 67% of the youth opposed to live-in relationships. On the
question of inter-religious marriages, 45% were opposed to them, while only 28%
were in support. The majority of the respondents (51%) agreed with the
proposition that “wives should always listen to their husbands”. Also, 41%
agreed that it is not right for women to work after marriage. While 53% were
opposed to dating before marriage, 40% disapproved of Valentine’s Day
celebrations. A fairly high proportion of young women respondents also held
such conservative views, the report said.

Marriage and caste

While acceptance for the idea of inter-caste marriage had risen, from
31% in 2007 to 55% in 2016, the reported incidence of inter-caste marriages
among respondents was only 4%. Over 84% of the married youth had had an
arranged marriage, compared to the 6% that reported a love marriage. While
one-third of those with a love marriage had married outside their caste, 97% of
arranged marriages were found to be within caste. Arranged marriage was also
the preference among the unmarried, with 50% saying they would like their
parents to take the decision regarding their life partner. Only 12% expressed a
preference for love marriage.

The survey also found Indian youth to be quite religious, with 78% of
the respondents stating that they prayed often, while 68% reported going to a
place of religious worship frequently.

Modern values such as gender equality did not seem to have much
purchase.

The survey also found strong support for existing quota for SC-ST and
OBCs in government jobs, with 48% in favour and 26% against.

Sunday, October 22, 2017

I was part of youth Research of Nike for sometime, as an external youth expert
for a project. “How can youth like white and black!” one of the top
executives from the marketing team exclaimed during the consumer analysis
meeting at Nike, Bangaluru office. We have conducted a deep dive study to
understand the Indian youth psychographics towards sports and their perception
on Nike, as a brand/ ideology/ product. Also to test some of the products
which Nike intended to launch in India. The result was not a stunner to me but
for the Nike India team, I guess. The team wanted to launch a bright neon range
of ‘fashionable’ sports shoes in India and most of the participants rejected
them stating that the color appears “cheap” and not like “Nike”… they preferred
Nike shoes and tees in white/ grey/ black, also suggested that Nike should
bring in more serious sports shoes in Indian market from their global
collection. In fact, the brand recall of Nike was very high in the category of
sportswear. Though, many emphasized that they prefers to buy Nike from “abroad”
rather than buying from India as the collection in Indian stores are not
“updated” as per the global trend. The ‘counterfeits’ were also an issue and
Nike design team did nothing much to ensure that their shoes are stunningly
different (visually) than those fake Nike shoes sold in flea markets (ie.
Sarojini Nagar, Palika Bazar, Varma Bazar, Chor market or Brigade Road). The
price range of original Nike shoes / accessories/ tees available in India were
much higher than the existing sports / sport-fashion brands and Nike was
perceived as serious sportswear brand in India. Interestingly, when I tried to
explain the team my theory of Adopted Differentiation and that Nike should try
to remain as serious sports brand rather than competing with Puma or Adidas
they thought it is just another ranting from an outsider! In other words, Nike
research team tried to stereotype Indian Youth in the same frame of global
youth! Globally, Nike is sold to the middle class consumers and Nike
presumed that is the right market for their product in India too (with much
higher price point). Obviously, the middle class youth of Indian or Bharathiya
psychographics were buying “similar looking Nike” shoes from flea market rather
than Nike stores. I had a feeling that Nike was trying to presume that, may be,
the sample selected (for the study) by me was wrong (though the list was verified by their research executive), or the analysis was not
perfect. None of my suggestions were adopted and the paradox in Nike’s consumer
segment appeared fatal for the business. I read that Nike's sales have fallen
to Rs 764 crore in FY16 compared to Rs 803 crore in FY15 (data from Registrar
of Companies). It’s loss widened to Rs 170 crore in 2015-16 compared to a loss
of Rs 101 crore in 2-014-15. Further they have started closing their stores
across India (35% stores closed already). In other hand, the German sportswear
maker Puma, which follows a calendar year, showed accumulated profits of around
Rs 47 crore for the year-ended December 2015. Puma places their products as “fashionably
sporty” products. In the article I have also read a quote as “I will prefer to
buy Nike products abroad than in India simple reason being the do not bring
their latest range to India! In my opinion they do not think Indian market is
matured enough so no point being the latest products!”. This exactly resonates
to what I have suggested them when Nike was trying to get a grip in Indian
subcontinent. Nike’s youth-paradox is almost similar to Zara, India. Globally,
Zara is one of the easy-to-reach fast-fashion brand targeting middle class
fashion-forward youth market, but with higher price point in India, Zara
gradually mutated into a higher segment pret line in this subcontinent through
the décor of the store, their selective advertisement and conscious selection
of product line. The store is predominantly in pastel shades, black and tones
of grey (sans bright colors). The ambience appears posh and their stores are
located in some of the best malls in India including Emporio Mall, Delhi. I
wish, Nike, rather than spreading exponentially could have focused into
becoming a serious sports brand for In’glo’dians who can afford the price for
innovative highly R&D oriented product. Or, focus on more India specific
grass-root innovation at an affordable price range (like Decathlon).

In the article quoted above, Dave Thomas, Adidas Group India mentioned
that “India is still not a fitness-oriented market, although it has great
potential”. It’s funny on how someone tries to put the blame on client /
“market” the moment they don’t succeed in a rate they presumes they should be!
If India is not a “fitness-oriented” market then how come Decathlon is building
huge shops across India and all of them are successfully running? Its turnover
more than doubled in same period in the year 2013—from Rs.60 crore in December
2012 to Rs.128 crore for the year ended 31 December 2013. In a report published
last year one must note that Decathlon has doubled the store count in India in
the past 14 to 18 months. In May 2014, it had 13 stores. Stores in newer
markets, such as Guwahati, were added this year, taking the store count to 24!
What is the success mantra of Decathlon? They are focusing on “accessible
sportwear/ sports goods” for the “youth minded” individuals. And the consumers
in Decathlon’s store are indeed serious sportslovers. May be age-wise they are
not teens or tweens. Most of the consumers in the store I have observed are
30+. As I have always stated, age doesn’t matter but the mindset, which
unfortunately Nike failed to understand. Nike can never be a ‘fashionable brand’
neither can become an ‘affordable brand’. Indian youth who buys Nike are not
the rappers, hiphoppers or follows any cult! They are serious, sweat loving 30+
‘young at mind’ sports-lovers who wants to access an Original Nike shoe which
will be uniquely made for India with global appeal.

Hence, these are few serious take away for Nike team:

1. Consider India as a unique market
and don’t stereotype the youth / sports. Research, analyse and then explore,
don’t dump the products here and expect them to be bought

2. Set target market right

3. Don’t be judgemental and impose
team’s idea on consumer, rather listen to them and spend time to design unique
product for Indian market (as Decathlon did for Galli Cricket or Nokia did it
in their initial years). Even if it’s a running shoe, the roads of every
country are different!

4. Expand Nike’s product range, make
them at per global offering

5. Fight against counterfeit by
designing unique products which has visible difference from the fake

Kaustav SenGupta's profile:

Kaustav SenGupta, an award winning academician, is the Associate Professor and HOD at National Institute of Fashion Technology. He is the Youth Market analyst, youth ethnographer, color psychologist and youth event curator in India. Kaustav is founder moderator of Ingene, the first ever open source Youth Insights research Lab in India. Over a decade, he has consulted for international brands and agencies like Nike, BBC, Groupe Adeo, Mountain Dew, Nokia UK, SkullCandy, Lenovo, O&M, Redifussion Y&R etc. on understanding the youth socio psychology of this subcontinent. He is a panelist of Titan Paradox panel, ColosNext color trend report of Asian Paints, ColorsIndia Conference etc. He is the organizer of TEDxYouth Chennai and InkLink DAM fest, (which promotes creative young talents and peer leaders). Kaustav is the only Indian Youth market analyst who's being interviewed by BBC, UK. He has authored more than 36 articles, 3 international papers, multiple columns and has mentored more than 1000 young professionals across the globe. read more about him at www.kaustavsengupta.com ,

Awards & Honours:

Kaustav has been invited by Lenovo- O&M youth insight roundtable to share his "insights" about Youth in India.He has been in colorsIndia conference as guest speaker, in Mobileyouth salon as guest panel of speakers, in Retail-jewelers India as a guest speaker, been in Asian Paints color 2013 panel as expert.Jury member of “Shilpa Guru Award- Govt. of India”- selected to be the jury member for 4 consecutive years

Testimonials & Quotes about INGENE :

"Meanwhile, trendspotter and Fashion Professor, Kaustav Sengupta, predicts that ‘eco-cool’ will be of growing importance to young consumers."

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Centre for Asian Studies

"This is a blog, so it is ever changing. However, the focus is on the trends of the youth culture in India, including information on fashion. One can look for items of interest (for example, movies) by using the blog search feature in the upper left of each page."

3) Youth drive the tech revolutionInteresting article by Ingene here.......................................9) Indian Youth are rediscovering their own youth cultureIn some respects, Indian youth are still learning the ropes when it comes to picking up on global trends. Coffee culture, Vogue and MTV may have led the way but now Indian youth want their own. Bollywood can stand on its own two feet globally and to be “desi” now is to be cool and it’s a local offering with global variance rather than a local variant of a global offering,

" While undertaking research for my blog posts, I came across Ingene, which calls itself the “first-ever Indian youth trend research blog” (http://ingene.blogspot.com/2008/08/indian-youth-lifestyle.html). Here is how the researchers in Ingene categorized Indian youth:“with the first ever non-socialistic generation’s thriving aspiration & new found money power combined with steadily growing GDP, bubbling IT industry and increasing list of confident young entrepreneurs, the scenario appears very lucrative for the global and local retailers to target the “Youngisthan” (young-India). But, the secret remains in the understanding of the finer AIOs of this generation. The Indian youth segment roughly estimates close to 250million (between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five) and can be broadly divided into three categories: the Bharatiyas, the Indians & the Inglodians (copyright Kaustav SG 2008). The Bharatiyas estimating 67% of the young population lives in the rural areas with least influence of globalization, high traditional values. They are least economically privileged, most family oriented Bollywood influenced generation. The Indians constitute 31.5% and have moderate global influence. They are well aware of the global trends but rooted to the Indian family values, customs and ethos. The Inglodians are basically the creamy layers and marginal (1.5% or roughly three million) in number though they are strongly growing (70% growth rate). Inglodians are affluent and consume most of the trendy & luxury items. They are internet savvy & the believers of global-village (a place where there is no difference between east & west, developing & developed countries etc.), highly influenced by the western music, food, fashion & culture yet Indian at heart” (http://ingene.blogspot.com/2008/08/indian-youth-lifestyle.html).I am quoting this characterization at length because in spite of its obvious commercial slant, it speaks to a challenge of writing about new media practices among young Indians. This group encompasses several hundred million people, and is marked by geographical, socio-economic and gender differences. It is therefore impossible to study, or talk about, them as one group."

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Youth Marketing

"Friday, 23 January 2009Indian youth survey statisticsSource : INGENE'Over 70% of Indian youth never heard of globalisation'Posted: Dec 23, 2008 at 1336 hrs ISTA study on Indian youth finds out that attitudes towards globalisation etc haven't changed much.New Delhi: A section of Indian youth are still conservative in making friends outside their religious circles and more than a two-third have never heard about globalisation, said a report released in Delhi."

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Blogged.com

"Queer and loving it"INGENE ... on his face, the waif-thin Amrit held a 1 foot by 1 foot placard - "Queer and loving it" - and blew kisses at his male "friend". With a pair of translucent, sky blue ... of others who had gathered at the Barakhambha Road-Tolstoy Road junction Sunday evening to participate in the Delhi Queer Pride '09 parade. The "gay" parade, an annual event organized by a coalition ...

"Great data from Ingene about social networking trends and attitudes among Indians both in India and abroad.It turns out Orkut isn’t only beloved in Brazil, it’s also the most popular branded social network in India — a staggering 94% of Indian youth have an account with Orkut. Facebook comes in next at 57%."

Studying well and aspiration for a better career(better than the last previous generation) is motivating Indians (in India and abroad) to succeed better than their global peers... a report from UK reconfirms the same...

Wednesday, 11 February 2009Indian youth remains positive- even in this meltdown worldoverSource: INGENEEven in this time of "melting dream" and the nightmare of being "pink-slipped" Indian youth remains positive. The unique value of family bonding and social support has saved India earlier also...during the invasion and devastations in Mughal and British period. Check the reports below:

---------------------------------------------------------------causeandconnect.com"Fakoconsciousness" is coolSource: INGENEAmong Inglodian* & Indian youth* the Fakoconsciousness (copyright Kaustav SG 08) is cool...Fakoconsciousness means a method to create an impression that one is "attached" with an ecological or sociological cause...that can be just wearing a green tee with quotes as "go green"!

Youth are becoming socially responsibleSource: INGENEAfter the smart pink chaddi movement the trend of social awarness is spreading faster...and most of these movements are spreading / communicating through internet.various micro groups are forming through social networking sites (facebook & Orkut...essentially).

... to find the recent trends in Love & relationship. The details being given below. Kaustav SenGupta INGene 73% of the people believe commitment as to be the first and the foremost part of love when asked in a ... decide to marry each other, definitely people become choosy about their partner but once decided they will become very much possessive. Copyright : INgene & Gaurav, Chennai-India

---------------------------------------------------------------Global-Swarming:the "new look" of indian youthlooking "cool" = looking different = looking "ugly" (to the "aam admi..gosh)...that reaffirms my theory of adopted differentiation... check how wonderfully the Indian youth (the Inglodian* segment) are redefining the meaning of "being beautiful@cool"...

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indiaprblog.com

"There is a very interesting report on Indian youth trends at Ingene. What stuck me the categorisation of the Indian youth..."

I got a "virtual thank you" note :)

Thanks to Ingene (the blog that covers youth trends emerging in India) for the heads up on this (and Ruby Pseudo for helping me find Ingene… this could go on) . The Bicycle Project is an initiative designed by a few peeps to collect and repair old bicycles to give to children in villages so that they don’t have to walk such long distances to school. Above all, it is to encourage them to stay in school, to help them secure a brighter future.It’s really positive to see that new approaches to social welfare are picking up pace there.

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few comments came through mail:

Hi Kaustavji, I loved some of your insights and I feel we have much in common.... I look forward to getting to know you in days to come. Your understanding is spot on, as far as Indian youth affairs go....-Sunil Robert VAuthor - I will survive

“Many regards from Ogilvy & Mather, Delhi - not just as an opening for this mail, but also for the many insights you share with us & others through your blogs.”-Anoop MenonPlanning DirectorOgilvy & Mather, New Delhi

"i just happen to visit your blog and read a few things about you and your team in it which inspired me to write you an email. u have talked about the Indian youth trend research which is a wow.... it is a first of its kind i came across.... great going"-amitesh mukherjeeStudent

"I’ve been reading your blog and found your thoughts and studies into eco-consciousness really interesting. I especially like the way you use the phrase, ‘Eco-trendy’, What a good phrase! "-Martycurrentmedia.com

“Thank you very much for a wonderful blog and site. I was told about you from some of our many authors - and we have a lot in Indian - and very happy to see how you give value and a strong voice to young people in India. Bombadil Publishing is a global youth to youth publishing company, where young people write books for young people.”-Marianne Rugård Järvstråt, PhDBombadil Publishing ABSweden

“I had gone through your blog- http://www.ingene.blogspot.com/ and found it quite informative. We want to publish your content while mentioning the relevant information like your blog's link so that our readers could follow it up and check your blog out.”-Anjita LalAssociate Editor,ODE-Of Distinct Expressions

"I am a university student in the United States. I am working on a research paper about the influence of western culture on India, especially fashion with youth to college aged students. I have come across your blog and I find it very useful!"-Melissa MaddenStudent

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I support Udhavum Ullangal Illam (Free Home for Orphan and Helpless Elders)

Udhavum Ullangal is a free home for orphan children and helpless elderls organized by a team of retired people which is functioning in Chennai for past 8 years.

The children home functions at Adambakkam. Whereas, the elders cum children home is functioning at Maraimalai Nagar.

This home provides free food, shelter, medical care and other basic needs of life to the inmates, besides providing school education to orphan children of the home.

All the services provided by the home is dependent upon the support offered from kind hearted and helping natured people like you, for managing various expances of the home...

COPYRIGHT:

The segregation of Indian youth, The theories which Kaustav has stated here , Presentations, Graphical representations, The analysis as well as Prediction of forecoming Trends are all jointly belong to Kaustav SG & INgene (2006-2012). Any plagiarism , without prior permission, will not be tolerated.